1. Technical Field
The present application relates to a method and apparatus for the circumferential labeling of a run of blow molded bottles where the individual bottles in the run have at least one varying dimension due to manufacturing tolerances, the method and apparatus providing more consistent labeling of individual containers in the run of containers.
2. Background Information
Background information is for informational purposes only and does not necessarily admit that subsequently mentioned information and publications are prior art.
This present application relates to a method for the circumferential labeling of containers, for example for the wraparound labeling of bottles, in which an endless strip of labels is printed, the respective label is cut to the desired length and wrapped around the container. As used in the context of this present application, the term “endless label strip” does not necessarily means a strip of labels with a theoretically endless length, but a strip of labels which has a length which is at least equal to the length of two connected labels that must or should consequently be cut apart or separated, or in any case cut to the proper length, to produce the individual desired labels.
In some methods, film labels are used which are separated by a laser beam generator from a continuously or substantially continuously fed endless strip. The labels manufactured in this manner are generally coated with glue and are then deposited on the container in question and wrapped around the container.
Some methods describe wraparound labels made of a shrinkable label material. The individual label is pulled in the necessary or desired length off a strip of label material which serves as backing. The length of label material pulled off the strip is then formed into the wraparound label and connected to the bottle, as well as being removed from the backing. The wraparound label formed in this manner is then brushed onto the container, where it is fixed in position by shrinking.
The latter method described above is complicated and expensive in terms of the equipment required and/or desired, and is not always reliable or may not be reliable on account of the shrinking process involved. In the former process described above, it is worth noting that to achieve a secure wraparound labeling, the labels must or should practically always or substantially always be processed with an overlapping area, whereby—to prevent, restrict, and/or minimize unnecessary or undesirable visual irregularities—this overlapping area is generally realized in a single color, although that imposes restrictions on the graphic design of the label.
This restriction is undesirable from an aesthetic point of view. An overlapping area also unnecessarily undesirably increases the consumption of material.
Quite apart from the above limitations, with some solutions it may be impracticable to flexibly and variably provide bottles that have different shapes with a label.
In practice, bottles often vary in terms of their diameter, so that the use of labels without a single-color overlapping area on bottles that have different diameters leads to different overall visual impressions, and in no case can a constant or substantially constant, consistent or substantially consistent, identical appearance be achieved. This is one of the disadvantages that is eliminated, restricted, and/or minimized by this present application.